Improvement in apparatus for re-pressing cotton-bales



, I 0-. EWING.

Apparatus for. Rea-pressing Cotton-Bales.

No. 215,270. Patented May 13, 1879.

all!llllllllllllllllfllllllllllllllllll MPEIERS. PHOTO LlTHOGRAFNE R WASHINGTON, D. C,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES EWING, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN APPARATUS FOR RE-PRESSING COTTON-:lBALES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 215,270, dated May 13', 1879 application filed April 11, 1879.

I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OHARLEs EWING, of Washington city, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Presses for Ito-Pressing Gotton; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the ac companying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Figure l is a perspective view of a press having my improvements applied. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

The same letter marks the same part in both figures.

My improvement relates to that class of presses in which bales of cotton, as received from the plantation, are subjected to a second compression for the purpose of reducing their bulk for shipment. In this operation the baleties have to be opened in order to take up the slack resulting from the diminished size of the bale, and again tied to hold the result of the compression before the press is released.

In the common process of re-pressing, after the bale-ties have been opened the slack is drawn by hand or power through channels in the upper and lower platens of the press, and the tie again fastened when the greatest possible condensation of the bale has been ef--' fected. During the process the ties often become twisted, bent, and corrugated, so that they yield to the expansive force of the bale when released from the press, and lose a portion of the compression it had produced.

The object of my improvement is to hold the ties securely at both ends during the action of the press, so that no part of the tie shall at any time become slack while the compression is going on, but throughout its entire length remain at all times stretched, and be held in an extended position, so that it cannot become twisted, corrugated, or bent.

The drawings represent my improvement applied to a simple form-of press.

A marks the top plate, and B the lower platen, of a press, the two being united by the columns 0. D is the piston-rod, and E the upis made flat, so that it will act with the bottom of the bale as a clamp to hold the baleties immovably in place when the force of the press is applied.

The under surface of the upper platen is provided with channels for the reception of the ties, so that they may easily slip through even when the pressure is on.

To the front edge of the platen E is attached a long roller, F, in order that the platen, in descending, may pass the ties without friction.

To the front columns of the press is attached a long clamp, G, hinged at h, and locked at the other end. The function of this clamp, which may be of any convenient form, is to hold fast the upper end of the bale-ties while the platen is descending and the compression of the bale taking place.

H in Fig. 1 represents the bale of cotton as it comes from the plantation, placed in the press ready for its action. The ties t have been unfastened and their upper ends inserted between the jaws of the clamp G and locked there.

In Fig. 2 the bale H is represented after undergoing the condensing action of the press.

The ties are fixed below bybeing clamped between the bottom of the bale and the lower platen of the press. They pass up the rear side of the bale, forward through the channels in the under side of the upper platen or follower, E, then over roller F, and into the jaws of clamp G. As the platen descends, the roller F passes over the upper surface of the ties, which, being held at both ends, are always taut and prevented from becoming bent, corrugated, or twisted, so that, when fastened, no por ion of the compression is lost by reason of the resilient action of the bale straightening out the inequalities of the tie.

I do not limit myself to any particular form or precise location of the clamp while the principle of my invention is retained; but

I claim 1. A re-pressing cotton-press provided with automatic devices for holding the bale-ties at both ends and keeping them in an extended In testimony that I claim the foregoing as position during the action of the press, as and my own invention I affix hereto my signature for the purpose set forth. in presence of two witnesses.

2. The combination with a repressing cotton press, of the sn 1ooth platen B, chan- CHARLES EWING neled follower E, roller F, and clamp G, all Witnesses: constructed, arranged, and operating substan- LEWIS VVOLFLEY,

tially as and for the purpose described. OHAs. F. STANsBURY. 

